Fastener device

ABSTRACT

A fastener device for fastening papers or the like to a backing member including a strip or prong member having a central portion and bendable prong end portions on which papers are to be impaled and an overlay member for fixing the strip member to the backing member. The overlay member has an intermediate portion adapted to overlie the central portion of the strip member and also has end portions having a pair of apertures through which the prong end portions extend. The overlay member has adhesive on its lower surface to bond it to the central portion of the strip member to thereby retain it in position so that it will not become misaligned in handling prior to the time that the overlay member is adhesively secured to the backing member. The fastener devices are fabricated on a web and coiled into a roll from which single fastener devices are adapted to be severed incidental to the process of securing each fastener device to a backing member.

United Corey atet 1 51 Feb. 25, 1975 FASTENER DEVICE [21] Appl. No.: 364,962

Related 11.8. Application Data [60] Division of Ser. No. 225,207, March 25, 1970, Pat. No. 3,741,385, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 22,519, Feb. 10, 1972, Pat. No. 3,641,632.

[52] 11.8. CI 24/153 BP [51] Int. Cl A44b 9/00 [58] Field of Search 24/67 AR, 153 R, 153 BP, 24/153 S, 90 1 1A, DIG. 11

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 860,341 7/1907 Stimpson 24/153 BP UX 1,465,783 8/1923 Polzer 24/153 R UX 1,652,205 12/1927 Kline 24/153 BP UX 1,755,604 4/1930 Kline 24/153 S UX 2,524,842 10/1950 Slamon et. al. 24/90 HA X 2,764,501 9/1956 Perri 24/67 R X 3,271,829 9/1966 Corey 24/153 BP X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 434,525 9/1935 Great Britain 24/153 R Primary ExaminerDonald A. Griffin Attorney, Agent, or F irmJoseph P. Gastel [57] ABSTRACT A fastener device for fastening papers or the like to a backing member including a strip or prong member having a central portion and bendable prong end portions on which papers are to be impaled and an overlay member for fixing the strip member to the backing member. The overlay member has an intermediate portion adapted to overlie the central portion of the strip member and also has end portions having a pair of apertures through which the prong end portions extend. The overlay member has adhesive on its lower surface to bond it to the central portion of the strip member to thereby retain it in position so that it will not become misaligned in handling prior to the time that the overlay member is adhesively secured to the backing member. The fastener devices are fabricated on a web and coiled into a roll from which single fastener devices are adapted to be severed incidental to the process of securing each fastener device to a backing member.

8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures 1' FASTENER DEVICE The present application is a division of application Ser. No. 225,207, filed Feb. 10, 1972, now Pat. No. 3,741,385, dated June 26, 1973, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 22,519, filed Mar. 25, 1970, now Pat. No. 3,641,632, dated Feb. 15, 1972.

The present invention relates to fastener devices for holding papers or the like on a backing member and more particularly to an improvement in fastener devices of the general type disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,271,829 in which an overlay member mounts a paper impaling prong member on a file folder or the like.

By way of background, there is a type of fastener device known in the art which includes an overlay member which secures a prong member to a file folder. The prong member includes a central portion which is held against the backing member by the overlay member. Two end prong portions extend outwardly away from the overlay member for receiving papers and holding such papers in position on the backing member after the prongs have been bent downwardly. In the past, an overlay member and a prong member were separate from each other until they were secured in position on the file folder. This required time and effort or expensive machinery for aligning the prong member and the overlay member incidental to securing them to the file folder.

By way of further background, there was no entirely satisfactory way of attaching fastener devices of the present type to file folders by relatively small stationers. In this respect, the prong and overlay parts of the prior fastener devices had to be assembled at the time they were attached to the file folder, as noted above. This therefore required highly specialized machinery or considerable hand work, neither of which were suitable for small stationers. The foregoing factors effectively kept small stationers out of the market of manufacturing file folders with attached fastener devices of the type under consideration here. It iswith overcoming the foregoing shortcomings of the prior art that the present invention is concerned.

It is accordingly one object of the present invention quent use by small stationers in attaching such fastener devices to file folders or the like by the use of relatively simple machinery. Other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will appear more fully hereinafter'from a consideration of the following detailed description taken together with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. I is a fragmentary perspective view of a file folder and shows in exploded relationship the parts of the novel fastener device;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the novel fastener device with the fastener device applied to a leaf of the folder of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention showing an individual fastener device in solid lines and adjacent fastener devices on the same web in phantom lines;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the individual fastener device taken substantially along line 44 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the individual fastener device taken substantially along line 5-5 of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a reduced perspective view of the web of fasteners of the present invention coiled into a roll; and

FIG. 7 is an alternate embodiment of the invention.

Referring now to the drawing, a novel fastener device made according to the present invention is generally designated as 10 in FIGSIl and 2. A backing member, upon which fastener 10 is adapted to be mounted, is generally designated as 11 and shown in FIG.' 1 as being in the form of a conventional file folder having leaves 12 and 13 adapted to be folded over along a fold line 14. It will be understood, however, that fastener device 10 is readily adaptable foruse with any backing member to which papers or the like are to be attached in to provide an improved fastener device which includes an overlay member having apertures to receive the end prong portions of the strip member and also adhesively secure the central portion of the prong member to the overlay member so as to positionally locate the latter relative to the overlay member both before and after the overlay member is fixed to the backing member. This arrangement permits storage and handling of the fastener device as a unit, and makes for accurate trouble free mounting of the fastener on the backing member.

Another object of the fastener device according to the present invention is to position the prong end receiving apertures on an off-center line extending lengthwise of the overlay member, such that there is a substantially larger bonding area on one side of such line than the other. When fixing the overlay member on the backing member, the larger bonding area will underlie the main portion of the impaled sheets and effectively resist the separating forces exerted on the overlay member under severe conditions, as for instance, when all of the impaled sheets are simultaneously folded stacked relationship.

Fastener device 10 includes an elongated strip member 16- and an elongated overlay member 18, which serves to maintainstrip member 16 fixed in a selected position on backing member 11, such as adjacent the upper marginal edge of leaf 12. Strip member 16, which will be hereinafter referred to as having an intermediate or central portion 19 and pair of bendable prong or end portions 20 and 21, may be formed ofany Suitable material, such as metal.

Overlay member 18 may be formed from any suitable material, such as a paper stock base 22 optionally having laminated to the outer surface thereof a plastic film, cloth fabric or other material 23, which serves to provide for increased strengths and a desired appearance. The inner or bottom surface of overlay member 18 may be bonded to leaf 12 by suitable means, such as by a pressure sensitive adhesive carried on base 22. Preferably, however, a hot melt adhesive is coated on the entire undersurface of base 22. A hot melt adhesive is one which softens to produce bonding when subjected to heat, but at normal ambient temperatures is completely congealed.

Again referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that overlay member 18 is of a generally rectangular configuration having lengthwise extending edges 26, 27, which define the relatively upper and lower edges of member 18 when the latter is fixed to leaf l2. Overlay member 18 may be further characterized as having an intermediate portion 28, which overlays intermediate portion 19 of strip member 16, and end portions 30, 31 having apertures-32, 33, which receive prong portions 20, 21 when the fastener is assembled.

With the above construction, fastener 10 may be assembled by bowing overlay member 18 and passing strip 16 along a straight line path lengthwise of member 18 through apertures 32, 33. Alternatively, strip 16 may be bowed intoa generally U-shaped configuration and the prongs 20, 21 simultaneously passed through the apertures. After strip 16 is in proper alignment with overlay member 18, suitable heat and pressure are applied to the central portion of member 18 overlying the central portion 19 of prong member 16 to thereby bond said strip 16 and member 18 together by activating the hot melt adhesive. In addition strip 16 is frictionally retained by apertures 32 and 33 in assembled condition so as to facilitate handling of the fastener as a unit.

Apertures 32, 33 facilitate accurate positioning of prongs 20, 21 relative to leaf l2 and cooperate to restrain strip 16 from being pulled from under intermediate portion 28 in the event that no adhesive is applied to that portion of base 22 immediately above and in engagement with the strip member. Normally, however, adhesive would be applied to the entire lower surface of base 22, as noted above.

In accordance with the arrangement thus far described, prongs and 21 are adapted to be bent upwardly at substantial right angles to leaf 12 so as to permit papers, not shown, to be impaled thereon. Prongs 20 and 21 are then bent back down against the surface of the papers to secure same to leaf 12. The above prodistance greater than about one-half and preferably approximately equal to two-thirds of the width of overlay member 18. Thus, the largest area of member 18 bonded to leaf 12 will underlie the main portion of the impaled paper. This permits member 18 to more effectively resist the separating forces exerted thereon under severe conditions, such as when a large member of impaled papers are simultaneously folded back over the fastener or when the backing member is lifted by grasping the papers.

Again referring to FIG. 7, it will be understood that the end portions of member 18 are, as shown only in the case of portion 30, provided with slits 42, which extend from their associated aperturesgenerally parallel to edges 26, 27 and serve to define pairs of relatively movable tabs 44a, 44b. Assembly of members 16 and 18 is effected by moving tabs 44a, 44b relative to one another, so as to facilitate entry of the prongs through slits 42 into their receiving apertures. Subsequently, tabs 44a, 44b will return to their nondeformed, or coplanar condition, wherein they cooperate with intermediate portion 28 to retain member 16.

Preferably, the entire lower surfaces of tabs 44a, 44b are bonded to leaf 12, such that there is substantially no weakening of member 18 due to the presence of slits 42'. It will be understood of course that the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be modified by incorporating therein one or more of the other of the features discussed with reference to FIG. 7.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in FIGS. 3-6. In the embodiment of FIGS. 3-6, the overlay member 40 of each fastener device 39 is fabricated from a suitable material having a thickness which is preferably between 0.008 and-0.014 inches. The material may be non-woven fabric consisting of a mixture of pulp, polyester, and miscellaneous fibers, or it can be Kraft paper laminated to polyester film or similar plastic, or it can be any other suitable type of material which has a sufficiently high tear strength. Round apertures 41 and 42 are provided in overlay 40, and the undersurface 43 has a coating hot melt adhesive 43' thereon. As noted above, this adhesive is normally nonsticking at room temperatures but will produce its adhesive qualities when subjected to heat. The central portion 44 of metal prong member 45 is located behind the central portion- 46 of overlay 40, it having been placed in this position by threading member 45 through apertures 41 and 42 in the manner described above relative to FIGS. 1 and 2. Thereafter heat and pressure is applied to central portion 46 to activate or melt the adhesive 43 on undersurface 43 and bond central portion 44 of prong member 45 to the undersurface of overlay 40. The prongs 47 and 48 will lie on the outside of the upper surface 49 of overlay 40. As noted above, the areas surrounding apertures 41 and 42 will aid in holding prong member 45 against movement.

It is to be noted that an overlay member 40 includes an upper substantially straight edge 50 which is substantially parallel to lower substantially straight edge- 51. Upper downwardly inclined edges 52 and 53 extend between upper edge 50 and overlay end edges 54 and 55, respectively. Upwardly inclined edges 56 and 57 extend between lower edge 51 and end edges 54 and 55, respectively. Thus the outer end portions 58 and 59 taper outwardly away from the central portion of overlay member 40 to provide an extremely neat installation after said overlay member 40 is bonded to a backing member such as 12. Furthermore, the centerline of prong member 45 is higher than the horizontal centerline of overlay member 40 so as to cause the embodiment of FIGS. 3-6 to exhibit the same advantages as discussed relative to FIG. 7 in this respect. The inclined edges such as S2, 53, 56 and 57 merge with their respective end edges 54 and at rounded corners 66, which are commercially desirable because they are less susceptible to being snagged by foreign objects than corners which are sharp.

Overlay members 40 are fabricated on a continuous web of material 60 which is subsequently coiled into a roll which may contain in excess of one thousand and as many as three thousand overlay members 40 connected to each other at junctions 61. Each overlay member 40 is subsequently slit or severed from web 60 at junctions 61 preparatory to the process of applying the overlays to items such as backing'member 12. It is to be noted that adjacent surfaces 52-56 and 53-57 of adjacent joined overlay members 40 diverge away from each other to provide spaces 63. These diverging spaces 63 increase the accuracy with which each overlay member 40 is severed from an adjacent overlay member 40 by means of a suitable automatic knife preparatory to the mounting of each overlay member 40 on a file folder. Since the cutting is effected by a knife which moves transversely across the web, from side to side, the cutting is more accurate than if spaces 63 were not present considering that the edges at which cutting starts and terminates are at 64 and 65 which are spaced considerably inwardly from outer edges 54 and 55. The reason the cutting is more precise is because at the inward portions 64 and 65 there is relatively little flexibility of the connected overlay members because of the support provided by the central portions 44 of adjacent prong members 45 which are bonded to the central portions 46 of adjacent overlay members 40. Stated another way, if the cutting of the adjacent overlay members 40 from each other were started at lines which were located outwardly as much as edges 54 and 55, which would be the case if diverging spaces 63 were not present, the connected edges of overlay members 40 could flex more than they would at edges 64 and 65 with the attendant possibility that the slits between ad-.

jacent lines 61 would not be as straight as desired. The spaces 63 are created by suitable die cutting.

It will be appreciated that spaces 63 may be of any desired size and need not be as large as shown in FIG. 3, but with smaller spaces there will be more flexibility in the edge portions of the overlay members prior to their being severed. However, it will be appreciated that wherever there is an indentation or a space such as 63 which defines rounded corners such as 66, each overlay member 40 will have rounded corners such as 66 after having been severed by a straight slit along line 61 from an adjacent overlay member 40. This would be impossible if spaces such as 63 and rounded corners 66 were not provided because in such a case the cutting along a straight line 61 throughout the entire width of the web 60 would cause the corners of each overlay member to be sharp rather than rounded as at 66, as shown.

It is also to be noted that edges 64 and 65 have a dimension 68 which extends lengthwise of web 60. While the slitting is preferably made exactly along each line 61, the fact that an axial distance 68 exists provides a certain amount of leeway during the slitting in the event of slight misalignments of the web 60 in the machine which produces the slitting. In the foregoing respect, edges 64 and 65 contain relatively straight central portions at 69 and 70, respectively, and rounded portions (not numbered) where relatively straight portions 69 and 70 merge with edge portions 52-56 and 53-57, respectively. Thus even if the slitting is effected slightly to either side of line 21, if it falls within central portions 69 and 70, the resulting product will be satisfactory. Thus spaces 63 serve a dual function, namely, they facilitate the accuracy of the slitting, and because spaces 63 produce rounded edges 66, the slitting with a straight stroke along a line 21 produces individual overlay members with rounded corners 66 from the web 60.

As can be seen from FIGS. 3 and 6, the areas surrounding apertures 41 and 42 are continuous as in FIGS. 1 and 2, and not slitted as in FIG. 7. If desired, slits such as 42 of FIG. 7 may be incorporated into the embodiments of FIGS. 16, if this is deemed desirable to facilitate the assembling of the prong member and overlay member.

What is claimed is:

l. A unitary assembled fastener device adapted to be secured to a backing member for fastening papers or the like comprising an overlay member having opposite end portions and a central portion and an upper surface and an undersurface, a pair of spaced apertures in said opposite end portions, said apertures being substantially completely surrounded by adjacent portions of said overlay member, an elongated prong member having a central portion and opposite prong end portions, said opposite prong end portions extending through said spaced apertures and overlying said upper surface on said end portions, said central portion of said prong member lying in contiguous relationship to said central portion of said undersurface whereby said apertures maintain said overlay member and said prong member in assembled condition, and adhesive means on said undersurface sufficiently proximate said central portion of said elongated prong member for securing said undersurface to said backing member to hold said central portion of said elongated prong member against said backing member.

2. A fastener device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said outer end portions of said overlay member taper outwardly away from said central portion.

3. A fastener device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said undersurface of said central portion of said overlay member includes said adhesive means thereon in contiguous overlying relationship to said central portion of prong member.

4. A fastener device as set forth in claim 3 wherein said central portion of said prong member is bonded to said adhesive means on said undersurface of said central portion of said overlay member to cause said overlay member and said prong member to constitute an adhesively secured unitary member.

5. A fastener device as set forth in claim 4 wherein said adhesive means is hot melt adhesive.

6. A fastener device as set forth in claim 5 wherein said end portions of said overlay member include rounded corners.

7. A unitary assembled fastener device adapted to be adhesively secured to a backing member comprising an overlay member of sheet material having an upper sur face and an undersurface, an elongated prong member having a central portion and opposite prong end portions, bonding means for securing said central portion of said elongated prong member in contiguous relationship to said undersurface in a position which permits said opposite prong end portions to extend beyond said overlay member to thereby cause said overlay member and said elongated prong member to comprise a unitary fastener device, and adhesive means on said undersurface for securing said overlay member to said backing member with said elongated prong member previously secured to said overlay member being held flat against said backing member by said overlay member.

8. A unitary fastener device adapted to be secured to a backing member as set forth in claim 7 wherein said bonding means comprise additional adhesive means on said undersurface. 

1. A unitary assembled fastener device adapted to be secured to a backing member for fastening papers or the like comprising an overlay member having opposite end portions and a central portion and an upper surface and an undersurface, a pair of spaced apertures in said opposite end portions, said apertures being substantially completely surrounded by adjacent portions of said overlay member, an elongated prong member having a central portion and opposite prong end portions, said opposite prong end portions extending through said spaced apertures and overlying said upper surface on said end portions, said central portion of said prong member lying in contiguous relationship to said central portion of said undersurface whereby said apertures maintain said overlay member and said prong member in assembled condition, and adhesive means on said undersurface sufficiently proximate said central portion of said elongated prong member for securing said undersurface to said backing member to hold said central portion of said elongated pronG member against said backing member.
 2. A fastener device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said outer end portions of said overlay member taper outwardly away from said central portion.
 3. A fastener device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said undersurface of said central portion of said overlay member includes said adhesive means thereon in contiguous overlying relationship to said central portion of prong member.
 4. A fastener device as set forth in claim 3 wherein said central portion of said prong member is bonded to said adhesive means on said undersurface of said central portion of said overlay member to cause said overlay member and said prong member to constitute an adhesively secured unitary member.
 5. A fastener device as set forth in claim 4 wherein said adhesive means is hot melt adhesive.
 6. A fastener device as set forth in claim 5 wherein said end portions of said overlay member include rounded corners.
 7. A unitary assembled fastener device adapted to be adhesively secured to a backing member comprising an overlay member of sheet material having an upper surface and an undersurface, an elongated prong member having a central portion and opposite prong end portions, bonding means for securing said central portion of said elongated prong member in contiguous relationship to said undersurface in a position which permits said opposite prong end portions to extend beyond said overlay member to thereby cause said overlay member and said elongated prong member to comprise a unitary fastener device, and adhesive means on said undersurface for securing said overlay member to said backing member with said elongated prong member previously secured to said overlay member being held flat against said backing member by said overlay member.
 8. A unitary fastener device adapted to be secured to a backing member as set forth in claim 7 wherein said bonding means comprise additional adhesive means on said undersurface. 